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I'm trying to troubleshoot remotely for my mother and her iPad. I sent her a Canon Airprint-compatible printer which is visible/usable on her wireless network by a desktop PC and a netbook, but not visible by the iPad. After trying software updates and power cycling without success, we finally determined that her Actiontec router is not Bonjour compatible. We're about to replace her router, but I thought I'd check to see if there might be a cheaper solution to be found here.

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I should add that Mom's not willing to leave her PC on to use a Printopia-type solution. She's 90, I need to let her have this, and give her credit for learning the iPad! – Alice Jan 11 '12 at 18:36
Have you tried turning off the IGMP proxy?cooper7.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/… – Alan Shutko Dec 5 '12 at 20:51
Funny that you should mention that. I recently disabled IGMP proxy on my Actiontec Verizon FIOS router to fix Bonjour problems I was having. As for Mom's network, I replaced her old router almost 2 years ago with one that was Bonjour capable. – Alice Dec 6 '12 at 4:11
I found for a HP Laser Printer with Wifi and Airprint that the configuration software from HP gave it (at least in my case) a static IP-number. This gave trouble. Worked much better when I changed it to get an IP-number from DHCP. – Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen Apr 15 at 22:24

3 Answers

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I don't know if it will work, mostly because the product hasn't been released yet but xPrintServer might work. It is a bit pricey for this usage though.

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Thanks for the link - I saw that too in the CES coverage. – Alice Jan 13 '12 at 0:54
Just got my xPrintServer by FedEx. OMG, works great. – afragen Jan 26 '12 at 23:05
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Just thought I'd check- I assume she only has one wireless network? (at 90, I'd be surprised if not, but you never know!)

I have problems with both AirPrint and AirPlay on my network if the devices that are attempting to connect are connected through different routers.

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Good question - she only has one wireless network. But I suppose I should have her check to make sure that the iPad is on her network, and not on a neighbor's open network. I only set her up for her network when we bought the iPad a year ago. – Alice Jan 11 '12 at 19:13
I hadn't thought of that possibility- but yes, thats worth checking for. (in my case both routers are physically wired together, and all IP addresses allocated through a single DHCP server, but its still an issue for Bonjour) – Peter Johnson Jan 11 '12 at 22:00
Just to add though that we already know that her router isn't Bonjour compatible, and isn't "broadcasting" the printer. So getting her on her own network isn't going to solve our problem. – Alice Jan 13 '12 at 1:03
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Bonjour is a special form of DNS broadcasting - perhaps if you reset the router to default DNS settings. If you're running multiple subnets for any reason (I doubt so for a 90 year old, but you never know) this will also cause the printer to only be available on one subnet. You'd likely have multiple subnets if you have more than one router.

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I've seen on other forums that other users have been waiting for many, many months for a software update for her particular Actiontec router. I've checked the dsl-provider's site recently - she's on the most recent version. I don't believe she's running multiple subnets, but I'll have to check that out too. – Alice Jan 11 '12 at 19:15

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